Have a look at this - I took these pictures at the coconut grove next to our park.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Some more news from us . . . .
Christmas Eve with our friends!!
December 26th, 2008
Well, we made it through the Christmas relatively easy. At the RV Park, some of the “long timers” cooked turkeys, and everyone else brought potluck for a really nice Christmas dinner. On Christmas Eve, our neighbors lit up the park with luminaries – bags with candles in them. This is apparently a custom in the SW United States, and they carry it on here. It was really nice.
Some of the people in the park went to church, others had a Christmas Eve meal in one of the restaurants, and then others just stayed at the park and turned in early – that was us. On Christmas morning, the owner of the park greeted us all and gave us little gifts. 
and then Arturo and I decided to take a sleigh ride in the rocket. The ocean was so calm, and getting the Rocket in was not a problem. We rode around to the bay further to the south, and took some pictures of the Blue Bay Resort and some other places. At the end of the bay, is a passage that takes you through a mangrove (jungle) and back to our park – so we decided, what the heck lets see what it’s like.
Here are a few pictures. I am just learning to use the movie 
feature of my camera, so the movies aren’t that great, but you’ll get the idea. It was a bit tight in that mangrove – I only took movies at the beginning but it got quite narrow and over grown. It was fabulous – and now we know where the mosquitos that eat us alive at night come from!
December 26th, 2008
Well, we made it through the Christmas relatively easy. At the RV Park, some of the “long timers” cooked turkeys, and everyone else brought potluck for a really nice Christmas dinner. On Christmas Eve, our neighbors lit up the park with luminaries – bags with candles in them. This is apparently a custom in the SW United States, and they carry it on here. It was really nice.
Some of the people in the park went to church, others had a Christmas Eve meal in one of the restaurants, and then others just stayed at the park and turned in early – that was us. On Christmas morning, the owner of the park greeted us all and gave us little gifts. 
I was up early to see the Christmas sunrise . . . .
and then Arturo and I decided to take a sleigh ride in the rocket. The ocean was so calm, and getting the Rocket in was not a problem. We rode around to the bay further to the south, and took some pictures of the Blue Bay Resort and some other places. At the end of the bay, is a passage that takes you through a mangrove (jungle) and back to our park – so we decided, what the heck lets see what it’s like.
Here are a few pictures. I am just learning to use the movie 
feature of my camera, so the movies aren’t that great, but you’ll get the idea. It was a bit tight in that mangrove – I only took movies at the beginning but it got quite narrow and over grown. It was fabulous – and now we know where the mosquitos that eat us alive at night come from! 
On Boxing Day we got up early and went for a bike ride with another couple we have met, Bob and Ardelle. (yes, this is Bev going for bike rides – it’s just what the doctor ordered! – as I feel better than I have for a long, long time). We headed off the main road, and followed a gravel/sand road through to another beach. It was really beautiful there – and of course, I didn’t have the camera, so we have to go back to take some pictures. We carried on through the “back road” to El Rebalsito where we usually bike to, and then home. While we were at the beach, we noticed some young guys with their fancy truck driving on the beach. Wouldn’t you know it, they got stuck in the sand, and Arturo had to help push them out. I wish I had my camera as it was just a little too much like pushing out of a snow drift – except of course, sand, and t-shirts and sandals instead of boots and parkas! PRICELESS!
After our bike ride, we had a little beach time, and then entered the Park triathlon (don’t worry, it’s not what you think!). We played a game of “golf” which is nothing like golf, and I am in the semi-finals tomorrow. After that part is over, we move on to Bocci and Horseshoes. It’s a tough life here!
It is starting to get very busy at Tenacatita – as this is a major holiday break for Mexicans, so the beach is the place to be! It will get back to a quiet, laid back place after New Years. . . . will post more soon - miss you all
After our bike ride, we had a little beach time, and then entered the Park triathlon (don’t worry, it’s not what you think!). We played a game of “golf” which is nothing like golf, and I am in the semi-finals tomorrow. After that part is over, we move on to Bocci and Horseshoes. It’s a tough life here!
It is starting to get very busy at Tenacatita – as this is a major holiday break for Mexicans, so the beach is the place to be! It will get back to a quiet, laid back place after New Years. . . . will post more soon - miss you all
Arturo y de Beeb
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Chance to catch up
Chance to catch up . . .
We crossed the border from the U.S. to Mexico on Wednesday, November 26th. The border crossing was really uneventful – then you travel into Mexico until kilometer 21 – that’s where all the paper work is processed. We were there by about 0900 hrs and while our paper work seemed pretty strait forward, it took one and a half hours to get through it all . . . and this was a slow day. As luck would have it, the young girl at the bancerito (cashier) had never done a Canadian vehicle before, so it seemed to take a very long time - welcome to Mexico! We were waived through at all the checkpoints that we came across and decided on stopping at San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico for a few days.
We crossed the border from the U.S. to Mexico on Wednesday, November 26th. The border crossing was really uneventful – then you travel into Mexico until kilometer 21 – that’s where all the paper work is processed. We were there by about 0900 hrs and while our paper work seemed pretty strait forward, it took one and a half hours to get through it all . . . and this was a slow day. As luck would have it, the young girl at the bancerito (cashier) had never done a Canadian vehicle before, so it seemed to take a very long time - welcome to Mexico! We were waived through at all the checkpoints that we came across and decided on stopping at San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico for a few days.
San Carlos is the Gringo area – Guaymas (10 minutes to the South) is the original Mexican port town Now, when we read it was a port town, we assumed it would be a small Mexican town – but, no . . . so wrong . . . it’s a bigger Mexican city – probably over 100,000 people , and they don’t cater to tourists so English is not spoken. We drove around Guaymas, found a “mall” and got a few groceries . . . then headed back to Gringoville (San Carlos). We found a really nice bar across from the RV park where we could have a cerveza and some chips. This bar – Charly’s Rock, overlooked the ocean and we were able to see the dolphins playing in the bay. 
The next morning, we packed up and headed for points south. The roads around Guaymas are not the best – no shoulders, and lots of Topes (speed bumps) at every little town along the way. This area seems very impoverished. Lots of people selling food on the roadsides, and when we did go through cities, we were swarmed with squeegee kids looking to make a quick peso. We politely said No Gracias, and they left us alone. Some of the areas were so poor looking . . . we found it difficult to say No, but if you gave pesos at every stop, we’d have none left! The small towns had lots of big topes, so every time you had to slow down to get over the tope, people were trying to sell you something - bread, tortillas, oranges (naranjo), peanuts . The City of Obergon seemed especially poor (in the area that we needed to go through) and then, of course, the farming communities in Sonora were poor – seems live a very hard life for the average person.
We crossed the state border into Sinaloa
Sunday, November 30, 2008
If it's Sunday, this must be Celestino . . . wait a minute, that wasn't the plan!
This is just a quick note to say we got to Celestino yesturday - after 10 hours of driving. Left San Carlos at 0700 hrs and stopped for something to eat at 1030 and then to fill with fuel at about 3 pm - that really wasn't in the plan, as I thought (I, being BB) that we were going to go somewhere else for a couple of days, and then to Celestino. When you're not driving, you have no control, and I mean NO CONTROL, of where and when you stop. Anyway, we made it, and set up in the dark - that was fun. But, good thing is that we woke up this morning to the sea air, sunshine and a gentle breeze. I will write more later, but wanted to let you know we are here. (PS: no Osa in this picture)
Temp in Celestino at 0900 hrs - +22 degrees, breezy.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Danger can happen when you least expect it!!!
Danger can happen when you least expect it!
Today is Thursday, November 27th, 2008 – American Thanksgiving – tho you wouldn’t know it here. We are in San Carlos, a small little Mexican town that has grown up out of the tourism business. There are no big resorts here, just small hotels and a couple of RV parks. We feel right at home here – the people are very friendly, it is clean and relatively quiet. The RV Park we are staying in is only about 1/3 full – we’re not sure whether this is from the down swing in the economy, or the time of year. The owner told us that most “snowbirds” start coming in December, and it is quite full during the months of January and February.
Today it has been cool – well maybe not cool – + 25 degrees but quite breezy – the wind chill factor makes it feel cooler! We are across the street from the beach, but it just doesn’t feel warm enough to sit on the beach – certainly not warm enough to go in the ocean. It’s OK to just relax, which is what we have done today. Just a few kms. South of here is the small fishing village of Guaymas (GWAY – mas). We plan on going there tomorrow to have a look around.
We left Casa Grande (about one hour south of Phoenix) yesterday morning at about 0700 hrs. The trip was pretty uneventful – the border crossing paperwork is interesting – that took us about 1 ½ hours – we were really glad to get out of there and on the road. Nogales is a border town that has had a lot of trouble lately. We just drove around the perimeter, but you could see it is very poor – a lot of shanty-type shacks. It’s hard to imagine how the people there survive.
The toll roads in Mexico are just fine – we had no problems at all. Even navigating through one of the bigger cities (Hermisillo) was pretty straight forward – but we did have a book that told us almost every street and turn we could possibly need to get through the by-pass. I’m the navigator extraordinaire, and Arturo maneuvers that truck and fifth wheel like a pro driver – we didn’t even swear at each other once!!
The night before we left Phoenix we experienced our first real sense of danger. We went to Arturo’s sister’s place for supper – just one block away from where we parked the fifth wheel. We walked home, and heard an odd beeping sound – like an alarm, or something like that. As we got closer to our RV, it got louder. I joked to Arturo “I hope that’s not coming from our place!” . . . . and guess what, it was. The propane detector was beeping – warning us of propane in the RV. We cautiously opened the door, and it was pretty obvious by the smell that propane was somewhere. Without turning on a light (we didn’t want to blow us sky high) we found that one of the burners on the stove was on – but unlit. We can’t figure out how this happened, as we haven’t even used the stove inside, and it’s pretty hard to turn them on without knowing – but whatever –it happened, and we are lucky beyond belief that that propane detector was working. Can you imagine the headlines . . . . "SNOWBIRDS LIGHT UP THE ARIZONA NIGHT SKY!!!"
You see . . . Danger can happen when you least expect it!
On Saturday we plan to head further south through Culican, and find another place to stop by the sea . . . and then on to Celestino on Monday. We honestly don’t think we will experience anything more dangerous that the propane incident in Arizona.
Will be in touch
Arturo y DeBeeb (BB)
PS: I can't get the pictures downloaded from my camera - so no photos until that little gliche is figured out!
Today is Thursday, November 27th, 2008 – American Thanksgiving – tho you wouldn’t know it here. We are in San Carlos, a small little Mexican town that has grown up out of the tourism business. There are no big resorts here, just small hotels and a couple of RV parks. We feel right at home here – the people are very friendly, it is clean and relatively quiet. The RV Park we are staying in is only about 1/3 full – we’re not sure whether this is from the down swing in the economy, or the time of year. The owner told us that most “snowbirds” start coming in December, and it is quite full during the months of January and February.
Today it has been cool – well maybe not cool – + 25 degrees but quite breezy – the wind chill factor makes it feel cooler! We are across the street from the beach, but it just doesn’t feel warm enough to sit on the beach – certainly not warm enough to go in the ocean. It’s OK to just relax, which is what we have done today. Just a few kms. South of here is the small fishing village of Guaymas (GWAY – mas). We plan on going there tomorrow to have a look around.
We left Casa Grande (about one hour south of Phoenix) yesterday morning at about 0700 hrs. The trip was pretty uneventful – the border crossing paperwork is interesting – that took us about 1 ½ hours – we were really glad to get out of there and on the road. Nogales is a border town that has had a lot of trouble lately. We just drove around the perimeter, but you could see it is very poor – a lot of shanty-type shacks. It’s hard to imagine how the people there survive.
The toll roads in Mexico are just fine – we had no problems at all. Even navigating through one of the bigger cities (Hermisillo) was pretty straight forward – but we did have a book that told us almost every street and turn we could possibly need to get through the by-pass. I’m the navigator extraordinaire, and Arturo maneuvers that truck and fifth wheel like a pro driver – we didn’t even swear at each other once!!
The night before we left Phoenix we experienced our first real sense of danger. We went to Arturo’s sister’s place for supper – just one block away from where we parked the fifth wheel. We walked home, and heard an odd beeping sound – like an alarm, or something like that. As we got closer to our RV, it got louder. I joked to Arturo “I hope that’s not coming from our place!” . . . . and guess what, it was. The propane detector was beeping – warning us of propane in the RV. We cautiously opened the door, and it was pretty obvious by the smell that propane was somewhere. Without turning on a light (we didn’t want to blow us sky high) we found that one of the burners on the stove was on – but unlit. We can’t figure out how this happened, as we haven’t even used the stove inside, and it’s pretty hard to turn them on without knowing – but whatever –it happened, and we are lucky beyond belief that that propane detector was working. Can you imagine the headlines . . . . "SNOWBIRDS LIGHT UP THE ARIZONA NIGHT SKY!!!"
You see . . . Danger can happen when you least expect it!
On Saturday we plan to head further south through Culican, and find another place to stop by the sea . . . and then on to Celestino on Monday. We honestly don’t think we will experience anything more dangerous that the propane incident in Arizona.
Will be in touch
Arturo y DeBeeb (BB)
PS: I can't get the pictures downloaded from my camera - so no photos until that little gliche is figured out!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Procrastinate, Anticipate, Appreciate . . . .
Procrastinate – to put off, delay, postpone . . . . this is NOT a good thing, especially when your TO DO list is getting longer every day. I know this is one of my personality traits – I always pack either the night before or the morning of. To say I work best under pressure is an understatement – and the pressure is on! It's not pretty!
Kipper had his orthorpedic surgery yesterday, and will spend the next three months recovering. We are going to miss him . . . but he will have to stay behind. Right now he’s hobbling around with a lampshade around his neck – still a wee bit dopey I would think.
Arturo and Phil made it to the Phoenix area in 3 days of driving, driving, driving. I am reminded of why I stayed behind for an extra week. If I was totally truthful, I am relieved not to have spent 14 – 16 hrs. a day on the road – pee breaks (few) and fast food stops just don’t make for happy travelling in my books. And I'm not sure, but I think after all that driving, Saskatchewan Drinks (aka Rye and coke) seem to have a bit more of a kick - or maybe you just need lots of them. Anyway, Arturo has it all under control and is waiting for his espousa to arrive – and then the adventure will really begin.
Anticipate – expect, look forward to, be hopeful of . . . . this IS a good thing.
Appreciate - be grateful for, be thankful for, be glad about . . . . we appreciate that we have the opportunity to take this time.
Will be in touch
Arturo y de Beeb
Kipper had his orthorpedic surgery yesterday, and will spend the next three months recovering. We are going to miss him . . . but he will have to stay behind. Right now he’s hobbling around with a lampshade around his neck – still a wee bit dopey I would think.
Arturo and Phil made it to the Phoenix area in 3 days of driving, driving, driving. I am reminded of why I stayed behind for an extra week. If I was totally truthful, I am relieved not to have spent 14 – 16 hrs. a day on the road – pee breaks (few) and fast food stops just don’t make for happy travelling in my books. And I'm not sure, but I think after all that driving, Saskatchewan Drinks (aka Rye and coke) seem to have a bit more of a kick - or maybe you just need lots of them. Anyway, Arturo has it all under control and is waiting for his espousa to arrive – and then the adventure will really begin.
Anticipate – expect, look forward to, be hopeful of . . . . this IS a good thing.
Appreciate - be grateful for, be thankful for, be glad about . . . . we appreciate that we have the opportunity to take this time.
Will be in touch
Arturo y de Beeb
Monday, November 10, 2008
“No where to be and all day to get there!” – I was wondering about that handle - What if we are driving and someone thinks we are going too slow – do we get the well-known proverbial hand signal? Will people pass us and have instant road rage? Will those other drivers who are in a hurry to get to their next appointment instantly resent us? Will we cause chaos and carnage on the roadways? . . . . . I think the name will be for the blog only – we all know what that means, right? No where to be – no time clock, no commitments – and all day to get there – whenever the hell we want, right? The Bills, a folk/rock-a-billy band from Victoria, has a song with that title – it’s all about where we want to be and has been tagged as our theme song for this trip for a few years now. Finally, we are able to make it all come together . . . so far, so good!
http://www.myspace.com/thebills
Tomorrow, the trailer will be packed and ready to go. Arturo will be traveling with his old faithful (oops, I mean faithful) friend Phil down to Phoenix. The plan was originally to have Arturo’s brother, Jeff, be the co-pilot for the first leg of the trip, but plans has changed, so Phil has stepped in. You may remember that Arturo and Phil went down to Michigan last fall to pick up Phil’s fifth wheel, and while it was memorable, we don’t want any repeats of that trip!!!
Arturo – 5 more sleeps
De Beeb (BB) – 14 more sleeps
Temperature in Water Valley today - +8 degrees, cloudy but a Chinook arch is building.
http://www.myspace.com/thebills
Tomorrow, the trailer will be packed and ready to go. Arturo will be traveling with his old faithful (oops, I mean faithful) friend Phil down to Phoenix. The plan was originally to have Arturo’s brother, Jeff, be the co-pilot for the first leg of the trip, but plans has changed, so Phil has stepped in. You may remember that Arturo and Phil went down to Michigan last fall to pick up Phil’s fifth wheel, and while it was memorable, we don’t want any repeats of that trip!!!
Arturo – 5 more sleeps
De Beeb (BB) – 14 more sleeps
Temperature in Water Valley today - +8 degrees, cloudy but a Chinook arch is building.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Count down is officially on!
It's November 3rd, and Arturo is getting the fifth wheel ready to take off. He is leaving Calgary on November 15th, and hopes to be in Phoenix area in about three days. de Beeb is taking an easier route - flying from Calgary to Phoenix on November 24th - we plan to leave the U.S. and cross at Nogales on November 26th. Today we checked the list again - all our documents are in place, photocopied and ready to go - health insurance - check - vehicle insurance - check - passports - check - pesos - check. Kipper will not be coming on this trip - he has a broken paw - but he'll be happy here with Penny (the housesitter). How do you like our name - No where to be and all day to get there! Perfect!!!
This is post #1 of many. .... and Osa will be in one picture per post - kind of like "Waldo" but will be "Where's Osa" Osa is Bear in Spanish - according to my handi dandi English-Spanish dictionary. There's a story behind this Osa . . . as some of you may know we are returning him to his homeland ;)
Adios, Amigos
Arturo y deBeeb
Temperature today in Water Valley - +15, slightly overcast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
